All of Us
by SaraJ
Summary: Hours later the party is still going, Daniel and Vala are still arguing, and two officers are providing a little entertainment. SJ Post200 fic.


**All of Us**

SaraJ

Disclaimer: I don't own them, this is for entertainment, please don't sue me…Thank you.

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Jack sat next to Daniel and Vala near the bonfire SG-3 and 4 set up once the sun went down several hours ago. The off world party was still in full-swing; by his watch, they'd just entered the sixth hour of reveling. When he'd suggested it to Landry, he'd had several objectives in mind.

First, he knew about Mitchell's supposed 200th trip through the gate. The younger man had mentioned the momentous occasion to the current base CO over a week ago. Landry was kind enough to let the information slip in a conversation with Jack over the phone. Jack jokingly insisted something should be done to commemorate the event, especially if Mitchell was so gung-ho about it. Landry insisted that Mitchell was gung-ho about everything, and maybe it would be better not to encourage him.

At which point, Jack mentioned that with times being what they were, evil bad guys trying to take over the galaxy again, imminent danger lurking, destruction at almost every turn, it might not be a bad idea to let those who stood on the front lines cut loose and have a little bit of downtime. The festivity could be a way for everyone to take a step back, enjoy the moment, and maybe remember what they were doing all this for.

Admittedly, Landry couldn't argue with that. Though he did ask Jack when the hell he'd become so damn sentimental. Jack managed to dodge an answer to that one.

What he hadn't told Landry specifically, but he suspected the other man already knew, was that the shindig was also the perfect opportunity to spend a little quality time with his friends and former teammates. He planned to use Martin Lloyd's appearance as an excuse to head out to Colorado, but the party was a sure-fire way of getting another trip through the gate himself. Unlike Mitchell, he never tried keeping count, and if he had he would have lost track years ago, but he still found it just as thrilling.

Truth was, he missed it.

And Carter was right…He really missed all of them.

Daniel and Vala were arguing next to him, about what, he didn't really know. But he knew it was arguing in that frustrated way that Daniel gestured a lot and the unmistakable tone in his voice. Jack used to hear that tone a lot. Vala seemed to be taking it all in stride, an unflappable grin on her face. She even went so far as to encourage further wrath from the man, baiting and goading him into an even more heated quarrel.

Carter told him on the phone once that she suspected it was a bizarre form of foreplay. Unfortunately, he'd been drinking at the time, and ended up with beer sprayed all over his coffee table.

Teal'c was a little more understated and referred to it as "an unusual mating ritual."

Amusing as it was to see Daniel suffering at first, once Jack cottoned on to the "mating ritual" like aspect of Daniel and Vala's interactions, it somehow became…less so. He stopped listening and scanned the crowd, the bonfire's glow casting the uninhabited area they'd confiscated into light and shadow. There were groups in the large tented area where they'd set up the food and drinks, balloons and streamers decorated the area, as well as the open wall of the tent. Someone apparently brought a stereo system of some sort-he suspected it was hooked to a naquada generator for power-and there were several people dancing in what seemed to be a designated area for that purpose.

His eyes landed on a small group about twenty feet away from him, directly in his line of sight. Teal'c and Carter were standing with Mitchell and Landry in conversation. Mitchell was obviously in the middle of retelling some harrowing story, his arms were flailing about as he spoke. It seemed to be an amusing tale, everyone was smiling…and there, Carter laughed.

He caught himself smiling as he watched her. The light from the fire caught her face and highlighted her blonde hair. She was enchanting.

And Hank was probably right, he was getting damn sentimental.

Of course, being the battle-trained soldier that she was, Carter knew when someone was watching her. Her head surreptitiously turned his way and when their eyes caught he didn't bother trying to cover the fact that he'd been staring. He smiled softly, and she looked away first, ducking her head with a shy smile of her own before appearing to focus back on the group. He knew that if he'd been closer, he would have been able to see a tiny blush appear on her cheeks.

His own smile widened. Still got the knack.

Next to him, Daniel's voice broke through his adoring haze.

"Jack, come on, help me out here!"

"Huh?" he grunted, still keeping his eyes on Carter.

"You haven't even been paying attention, have you?" Daniel railed. "What were you…" Daniel stopped as his eyes followed Jack's to where Sam was still talking to Teal'c and Mitchell. "Oh," he said knowingly. "Figures."

Jack finally turned to see Daniel staring expectantly at him. Vala was on Daniel's other side, smirking like the Cheshire cat. "What was that?"

"You know, I don't even know why you're over here. You don't have to pretend to be interested in what we have to say."

Come to think of it, he didn't know why he was over here either. But Daniel _was_ his friend, and it would be rude to just blurt that out, so…

"Aww come on, Daniel, and miss the chance to see you and SG-1's new alien counterpart engage in this bizarre rendition of a mating ritual?"

If anything, Vala's grin got wider at his words. Daniel just looked slightly constipated, but Jack wasn't fooled. He was certain he carried a similar look at times when people suggested that something might be "going on" between him and Carter. Daniel was confused, but not necessarily opposed to the idea and probably thought he should be, hence, the Look. Figuring his work was done there, Jack stood and sauntered off toward the object of his affections.

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He sidled up next to her and rested the pads of his fingers against the small of her back. Predictably, her attention turned to him and she smiled again.

"Hi," she said brightly. Across from her, Mitchell straightened in the presence of a superior officer while Teal'c simply bowed his head.

Jack waved casually in Mitchell's direction, "At ease, Mitchell, for crying out loud. No need to stand on ceremony here."

"Yes, sir," Mitchell answered, visibly relaxing slightly. "Are you enjoying the party, sir?"

"What's not to like? Food, drink, cake," he turned his head so he was looking at the woman next to him. "Friends."

She smiled again. To her left, Jack could see Teal'c smirking.

Mitchell didn't seem to notice the tension and continued, "Well, we're certainly lucky to have you, sir. You should try to drop by more often."

"I just might have to do that. But for now, I think I'm going to have to steal a certain Lt. Colonel away from you gentlemen."

Her eyes narrowed in confusion and she wasn't the only one. "Sir?" she questioned.

"Dance with me, Carter?" he requested with a small incline of his head toward the dance area.

She continued to stare at him as if his eyes had just glowed like a Goa'uld's. "Sir?"

He sighed. "Dance, Carter. You know, two people, moving together in a pattern of steps, usually to the accompaniment of music?"

She blinked and giggled a little to cover her discomfort. "No, I know what…I just…I'd love to."

"Excellent," he responded as he led her away. Teal'c was still smirking at them, damn him.

Mitchell moved to stand next to the remaining member of SG-1 as they watched the two officers leave. His face wore a mask of confusion and he took a long swallow of the drink in his hand before speaking.

"Did I miss something here?"

Teal'c continued to stare at his friends for a moment before casting a glance at Colonel Mitchell. "It would not be the first time, Colonel Mitchell," he answered in his normal, stoic way.

Scowling, Mitchell turned to Teal'c, only to see the Jaffa had signs of a smirk on his normally impassive face. "Funny, Teal'c. No, really, I mean is there," he waved aimlessly toward the couple who just left them, "something going on there?"

"What do you think Colonel Mitchell?" Teal'c cocked his head inquiringly.

Mitchell nodded, knowing he wasn't going to get any information out of his Jaffa friend. He turned back to look at Sam and General O'Neill. They were dancing quite close, but were not necessarily improper. They looked kind of cute actually and he found himself smiling.

Something came back to him from earlier that day and the smile left his face. "You're not going to try and tell me that Sam's my Mommy now, are you?"

Teal'c didn't answer and Mitchell couldn't help but turn to look at the other man. The Jaffa was grinning.

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He pulled her into his arms effortlessly once they reached the dancing area. One hand settled at the small of her back while the other held one of her hands in his, over his chest. Her other arm naturally wound around his neck. It struck him how grateful he was that this planet was fairly warm at night, they'd both shed their BDU jackets and he could feel the heat from her body against his much more so with fewer layers between them. It also allowed them a little more freedom of movement, always a plus.

"I didn't know you could dance," she said lightly as they swayed to the ballad that filtered through the sound system.

"Oh, I can cut a rug with the best of them, Carter," he quipped back. "I just don't like to advertise my many talents. I've got a reputation to uphold."

"Of course. Unfortunately, I think that close to the entire SGC is here right now, so I think your cover's blown," she smiled.

He made a little show of looking around, then met her eyes again, trying to appear distraught, but there was too much humor there to be believable. "Damn, there goes my 'hard ass General' mystique."

Her head dropped and she giggled into his chest. After shaking her head back a forth a couple times, she lifted her face back to his, still smiling. He was studying her intently, a soft, warm expression on his face.

"I lied before, you know," he said after a moment, when she was watching him with a similar gaze.

"I know."

"About missing you…Well, all of you, that is. Teal'c and Daniel I miss too…"

"Jack, I know," she was starting to smile again, his stumbling was just too cute. "We, that is, all of us, miss you too." If he wanted to play it safe, she could do that, but she'd have a little fun, too.

"You do?"

"Of course. In fact, Mitchell was right. All of us," she smirked, "wouldn't mind if you dropped by more often."

He took a deep breath and nodded before answering. She suspected that he knew she was teasing him.

"Well I know I wouldn't mind seeing all of you more often."

Maybe it was the way he say it, half teasing, but with a definite passionate edge, or the glint in his eye, but she knew somehow that was probably a little more than code. He definitely knew she was teasing him. Her eyes snapped to his. Their movements slowed almost to a stop.

He leaned toward her and she instinctively responded in kind before remembering that they had quite an audience. They were supposed to be keeping a low profile. They hadn't even gotten around to defining what they had themselves, for crying out loud; content instead, for the moment, in the knowledge that they had each other, in whatever way, shape, or form they needed. And they didn't want or need anyone else.

So she pulled back and winced. "Um, Jack?" she whispered, still amazed at how easily his given name slipped past her lips. Of course, he did have her practicing any time they spoke. Most of their correspondence recently was by phone, visits were harder to arrange since she rejoined the SGC.

"Sam?" he parried back.

"Remember before when I mentioned that the entire SGC was here…" she glanced around furtively and he mimicked her. Sure enough, more than a few eyes were watching their interaction.

He met her eyes again and smirked. "Well, then I think someone's going to win some money tonight."

And before she could protest, he leaned in completely and covered her lips with his own.

Sam, naturally, didn't put up much of a fight.

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Daniel and Vala watched Jack and Sam's passionate embrace from the sidelines. Daniel started blinking rapidly and shook his head, uncertain as to what he was seeing. Were they really kissing? Like that? In front of everybody?

Even Vala looked slightly shocked. No doubt she hadn't expected the other, normally more reserved and professional, female member of SG-1 to behave with such abandon.

"Well, it looks like our wedding idea wasn't all too far off the mark, now was it?" she commented.

Daniel just continued to stare, looking heavily disturbed. Were people clapping? And did he really just see Mitchell raise his fingers to his mouth and let out a whistle?

He needed a drink.

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Sergeant Walter Harriman stood next to Sergeant Siler, also watching the scene unfold. Walter nonchalantly raised a hand to his eye, wiping away a drop of moisture that appeared there.

"Just something in my eye," he muttered at Siler's questioning glance. At the same time, Walter reached into the breast pocket of his jacket and pulled out a couple of folded bills, handing them wordlessly to the other Sergeant.

"Whatever you say, man," Siler responded, pocketing the money and staring ahead.

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END


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